PsycUndergrad
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Posts posted by PsycUndergrad
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35 minutes ago, psychstudent2020 said:
Just received an invitation to Concordia's 'Clinical Interview'. The only details available are that it will be 4.5 hours long. I am wondering if anyone has any insights to how to prepare for this length of an interview, or if anyone has gone through this process before? HELP ?
I interviewed at Concordia in a previous year. If its anything like in person, it will be multiple shorter interviews with different faculty members and grad students. And potentially an info session about the program. I would be shocked if it’s a single long interview because they def don’t have time to interview every applicant for hours.
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1 hour ago, emsmith said:
I have another potentially silly question - what format are the SOPs supposed to be? I envisioned writing it like a cover letter - "Dear admissions committee, introduction to self, blah blah blah, outline your interests and experiences, etc, sincerely, applicant" but after googling tips all of the examples are in more of an essay format - "Ever since I was a child I wondered why my cat chased mice, this led me to wonder why people blah blah blah, now I want to be a clinical psychologist"
What have people written in the past? Cover letter/essay/something different? Particularly people who have already been accepted into a program? I find the examples online seem cheesy, but maybe that's because I've been working for a few years and I'm approaching it in the wrong way?
I wrote mine similar to a cover letter, just not in letter format. I focused mainly on describing my past research experience and skills and linking them to the POI’s research/what I wanted to research in grad school. I was accepted and a few people commented that it was strongly written, so I guess it worked. I’m not a fan of the cheesy anecdotes either. They seem unprofessional to me, like something that a high school student would write.
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11 minutes ago, PrettyFlyForACogSci said:
Hi all, I could use some advice here! I've narrowed my list of schools down to 9 clinical programs that I'd like to apply to, however I'm now worried that I might be stretching myself thin. I also plan to apply to 3 back-up experimental Masters programs and then apply for funding. All of this has to be done by December 1-ish.
For the 9 clinical programs, I have great matches and PI contact at 3 of them, good matches and okay PI contact at another 3, and good matches and very little-no PI contact at the last 3 schools. My question is, for the 3 schools that have the worst outlook so far, should I just drop them? Do other people here have experience getting interviews at programs where they have a good academic match but very little-no PI contact prior to submitting applications? Or should I focus on the 6 schools where it looks like it seems that my odds are better?
The three schools in question are McMaster, Dal, and Guelph. I actually interviewed at Guelph 2 years ago, the last time I applied for grad school. I was ultimately waitlisted. From what I've heard having a previous interview actually lowers my chances of being re-invited for an interview but I'm not sure how true this is. Any input is appreciated!
I wouldn’t drop any schools based on low contact with PIs, if that’s the only reason. It isn’t a huge predictor of application success. I’ve gotten interviews at schools where I had no contact and flat out rejected at schools where I had a lot of pre-application contact.
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I second all the previous responses. My pre-interview emails/interactions had no bearing on my application success. I think a lot of faculty will be more reserved or brief at this point because they’re busy and also want to wait to see everyone’s apps before getting invested.
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The sites I’ve trained at generally used measures like the BDI and BAI for tracking progress throughout therapy for most clients. It’s useful for us as therapists, and a lot of my clients have found it very helpful because they can see the reduction in symptoms in a way that is much more concrete. I remember one of my clients being very excited when she realized she was responding “0” to symptoms for the first time and it was a big moment for her.
- justacigar, Psyche007 and PsyDuck90
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You can definitely still send an email just to express interest in their work/working with them. Write a few sentences describing your interests and past experiences, etc.
Since you’re an international student, you could also ask if they’re planning or able to consider international applicants. This might actually be an important question since international students are more expensive to fund and COVID has affected university funds and grant competitions.
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I probably wouldn’t rush to submit a paper before applications are due. Having a bad pub or submitting to a poor journal could hurt you more than it helps you. Do you have advisors or co-authors you’ve discussed this paper with? If yes, I would ask what they think. If no, then it’s going to look odd on your application to have a single-author pub as an undergrad. I would maybe consider submitting some abstracts to conferences instead.
- PokePsych and justacigar
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I’m so sorry to hear that. This site is mostly applicants so, but there’s a psychology thread on the Student Doctor Network forum that has a lot of practicing psychologists on it. Maybe that could be a helpful resource for you. Best wishes!
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17 minutes ago, NeuroLim3 said:
What sort of email exchanges did you have? I'm in the same boat as the person you were replying to after sending out a bunch of emails. Some professors have said they cannot do interviews before applications, some have just acknowledged my CV and said they are accepting, and a couple requested a Zoom meeting. Should I suggest Zoom meetings with profs that acknowledge my CV and respond to my email? I'm not sure if its a valuable way to spend my time given what you are saying. How common is it, or I guess how necessary is it to have this meeting prior to applications? Or, can I simply just express my interest now and once I have applied?
Not the person you asked, but I’m also already in a clinical program. I would personally not request a zoom meeting unless they bring it up first. It’s not that common. I was kind of clueless about this when applying and actually only emailed about half of my POIs, and had a pre-interview meeting with one. I still got 3 (out of 6) interviews, mostly at schools where I’d had no prior contact. The one thing all faculty commented on was the strength of my statement of interest and strong research match with their labs. I think this time is probably better spent on research and refining your application materials. Those will get you to the interview stage, which is when the connection and personality fit come into play.
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53 minutes ago, shubeydubeydoo said:
Do you guys think (thought I should ask with all this talk going on) that it's not a good idea to send an email asking oh are you taking students for next fall and leave it at that? Kinda wanna focus all my energy on applications and not on talking to POI who might not even see my application if there are a lot of other competitive applicants if that makes sense. What do you guys think of this approach?/What benefits are there to talking to POI (outside of the obvious - i.e. learning abt their more current research & figuring out research fit)?
It’s totally fine to do that. Those questions can be asked in the actual interview. Speaking as a current clinical student, pre-interview contact with POIs is not as big of a deal as it seems. It’s actually not that common to have early meetings like that and I know a lot of faculty who avoid it.
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14 hours ago, freudianslipintogradschool said:
Is anyone planning on emailing profs soon? I’ve heard July is a good time??
I would email later given the current situation. Maybe September-October. A lot of things are up in the air with COVID and I’m guessing that many profs don’t have firm plans yet.
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17 hours ago, Now What said:
My supervisor is expecting me to move to the city where I'm accepted into the program although all classes will be online for the first semester. Is ayone else expected to move? I thought I would be staying put and relocating for next seemester, if thing with Covid have settled down.
Did they say why? Maybe it’s possible that research or small meetings could resume and they expect you in the lab? Still, it seems crazy to me to expect someone to move and find housing in a new city during a pandemic if the university is closed.
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I’m not sure how likely it is that programs would accept a student who does not want to do research and wants to work only on their own terms. It’s not how a PhD works regardless of funding status.
Why not find an online program and buy your PhD? Or do a course-based masters?
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10 minutes ago, Threesisters said:
Perhaps so many CGS-D are given per committee and per university? That way one person's biases cannot impact the whole? I don't know. This should be made transparent somewhere. I suspect the awards offices should know?
I think the competition statistics on the SSHRC website show how many CGS-D and fellowships are awarded to each university, discipline and subcommittee, although I could be wrong.
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5 hours ago, AK47 said:
Out of curiosity, just wondering, those that were lucky enough to get the CGS-D, what were your scores? ☺️
I got 15.9/20 in committee 4 (I think - I’m in psych).
Like others, my application was very similar last year, but I was waitlisted with an 11.1/20. I guess it comes down to who happens to read your application.
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2 minutes ago, lolplsfundme said:
Which University??
sent you a PM!
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I got an email from my graduate awards office this morning with information on activating the award. It seemed to be a mass email so I would guess that they received a list of winners for the university... it’s so strange. I don’t know why sshrc would notify some schools but not others.
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Just now, psychstudent312 said:
Would this same logic apply to the Ontario Graduate Scholarship? Especially if students chose May 1 as their start date...
No idea... I know SSHRC and FRQSC have a formal agreement for disclosure, and SSHRC winners are obligated to reject FRQSC. My impression is that OGS varies by institution and is less strict, but I can’t say for sure.
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I wonder if agreements with other funding agencies affect the order that we’re notified... I just noticed my letter said that the results would be communicated directly to the provincial funding body (FRQSC) because SSHRC winners are required to turn down FRQSC if we get it. Don’t know if that makes sense but it might explain why a lot of Quebec students are getting emails/results?
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Just now, imbadatusernames said:
Congrats to all who are receiving good news! I still have my login from yesterday, but no results yet. To those who received their results, did you just check your Extranet page and see the documents posted? I'm wondering if I should just keep refreshing the page every so often instead of waiting for another email.
Yeah, I was refreshing off and on all morning and it was finally updated around 11:30. I haven’t received any emails.
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Just found out via extranet that I got the CGS-D. I got my login info yesterday but it doesn’t seem to predict anything.
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16 minutes ago, EnergeticBacteria said:
When you say "not available" do you mean it wasn't on the FRQNet portal? or you didn't get an email until 3pm?
It wasn't on the portal until the afternoon. I remember checking all day but there was nothing there until after I got the email.
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Just a heads up that FRQSC wasn’t posted at midnight for everyone... my results were not available until like 3pm on April 30th. Could be because I didn’t get the award?
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The year refers to the year that you begin holding the award, not the year when you apply. Last year’s applicants began receiving funds in the 2019-2020 academic year, so it was considered the 2019-2020 competition. I applied this year and all communications from my awards office have referred to this cycle as the 2020-2021 competition.
2021 Clinical Psychology Applicants CANADA
in Psychology Forum
Posted
As someone who is already in a program, I would prioritize supervisor fit. Specifically fit with their personality, supervision style, approach to research. Your supervisor is one of, if not the biggest determinant of your grad school experience. Practicum opportunities or training can be worked around and supplemented, but things can get BAD if your supervisor is a poor match.